Magnetic Carrier Meeting 2014

February 15, 2015

Our already 10th International Conference on the Scientific and Clinical Applications of Magnetic Carriers took place in Dresden, Germany from June 10-14, 2014. It was a wonderful gathering of more than 330 participants from 41 countries, where we discussed all the different aspects of magnetic nanoparticles and microspheres, how they can be made, used and applied in new and ever more fascinating ways!

The research discussed at the meeting has now been published in full-size peer-reviewed papers in the Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials (JMMM). Check it out here.

Surface Modification Chemistries for Particles and Interfaces

July 27, 2015

Immediately following the 250th ACS National Meeting in Boston, a one-day short course on surface modification will be presented. Professor John Texter has over 35 years experience in industrial small particle and coating technologies. He is Professor of Polymer and Coating Technology at Eastern Michigan University (since 2002).

The course is targeted at the advanced undergraduate and beginning graduate student level and will be useful to R&D chemists, materials scientists and engineers, and innovators in developing a toolbox of methods to use in optimizing formulations for advanced materials and applications.

The imaging technique used by the researchers, based on transmission electron microscopy (TEM), may enable scientists to monitor dynamics of individual particles within a colloid in their native state. Structural details gleaned from the imaging method may also lead to new uses for nanoparticles in catalysis, biological imaging, and other areas.

Drawing on a liquid-sampling technique the researchers reported in 2012 , they packaged a few droplets of colloidal platinum nanoparticles in a nanosized graphene bubble. Then they used a microscope equipped with a highly sensitive detector to zoom in on individual particles and record many short-exposure images.

Because the particles were constantly moving, the images were inherently low quality. But by applying a computational technique the researchers developed for this purpose, they were able to produce high-resolution 3-D reconstructions of randomly moving nonidentical particles.

This work is likely to make an impact in biological imaging, catalysis, and other fields, says Joerg R. Jinschek, a TEM specialist for microscope maker FEI who is based in the Netherlands. Jinschek explains that attaching a colloidal particle to a rigid surface—as has been done for imaging purposes in the past—can alter its structure. Because structure and other properties often depend on a particle’s state or environment, researchers want detailed information about nanoparticles in their natural states, Jinschek says. He adds that being able to image freely moving nanoparticles in liquids, as was done in the new study, will help scientists determine relationships between a nanoparticle’s structure and its function.

Report from the Frontiers in Biomagnetic Nanoparticles Meeting in Telluride 2015

July 22, 2015

Jennifer Andrew, Jeffrey Anker and Thompson Mefford organized now already for the 4th time the Frontiers in Biomagnetic Nanoparticles meeting. It took place in Telluride, Montana, U.S.A. from June 23-25, 2015, a wonderful location high in the Rockies (2590 m above sea level!). With 80 participants, this meeting is smaller than its "twin meeting", the International Conference on the Scientific and Clinical Applications of Magnetic Carriers, but it features just as high-standing talks in the (odd) years between the larger conference.

This time, we had an especially interesting time during discussions about how magnetic hyperthermia works, why it seems to work even without (measurable) heat production, and if we actually should rename the effect to thermophoresis. Especially Tim St. Pierre, his student Michael McPhail and Julian Carrey brought up many interesting points, and we are sure that the discussions will go on during next year's Magnetic Carrier meeting.

Another interesting area that quite a few talks were discussing was the use of magnetic nanoparticles as T2 (and T1) contrast agents in Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Especially the group from NIST Boulder gave some interesting talks, while the shape anisotropy was also mentioned as very important. Jin Xie very nicely reviewed the area and their recent developments and showed how Fe5C2 nanoparticles might replace some of the Gd-based agents in the future.

Successful Conference in Timisoara - June 25-26 , 2015

July 17, 2015

The Magnetic Fluids & Applications meetings are organized in Timisoara since 1980 by the Politehnica University of Timisoara and the Timisoara Branch of the Romanian Academy. The workshop Multifunctional nanoparticles, magnetically controllable fluids,